A 24-year-old gang member was arrested Thursday in connection with a
shooting at a Los Angeles bus stop in which eight people were wounded,
city officials said.
Bystanders express shock after a shooting at a bus stop in Los Angeles Wednesday.
Billy Ray Hines is
believed to have fired into a crowd of people at the bus stop. Hines
was apprehended Thursday afternoon as he was walking down the street,
about a half-mile from the scene of the shooting, Police Chief William
Bratton told reporters.
Hines will face 10 counts of attempted
murder -- one for each of the eight victims, and two more for what
authorities believe to be his two intended victims, who were still
being sought Thursday, Bratton said.
Authorities are also seeking the gun used in the incident, he said.
The shootings took place Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of
Central and Vernon avenues, in an area where police are concerned about gang violence.
Five of the victims were children. An 11-year-old girl was shot in the
chest, and another girl, age 11, was shot in the right arm. Three boys
were wounded -- ages 10, 12 and 14.
One was shot in the leg,
one in the buttocks and the third in the ankle, police said. One man
was wounded in the leg and another in the ankle, and a woman was shot
in the face.
"While no one died yesterday, the bullets unleashed shot through the core of the entire community," Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in announcing the arrest Thursday. "The decent people of this community responded with force."
Witnesses came forward after the incident to identify the gunman as
Hines, Bratton said. The shooting was believed to stem from a dispute
between the gunman and the two intended victims, he said.
